Geology Field Conference Guidebook Creation

The New Mexico Geological Society (NMGS) annually conducts a conference in the Fall known as the Fall Field Conference. The theme of the conference changes each year, focusing on a geologic region in the State of New Mexico. Accompanying the conference, the technical leaders develop a scientifically oriented guidebook for participants and for later book sales. The contents of the guidebook are three days of road logs and several referenceable technical papers – anywhere from 12 – 40 pages. The road logs consist of a description of the geology, natural and local history along the drive, a technical description of each of the several field stops, and some non-referenceable technical papers. The technical papers are a collection of geological papers that are organized by technical subcategories within the geological disciplines. Each of these papers can stand alone without the guidebook and is offered to the public free as a standalone publication.

The guidebook project is divided into three separate but interdependent technical organizations: the science editors, the copy editors, and the typesetting, layout, and design. The science editors gather technical content from the geological community for the guidebook. They also write the road logs for the three days. The science editors work with a panel of scientific reviewers for manuscripts and interact with authors on scientific content and adherence to style guidelines. Once papers have undergone a detailed review, they are passed to the copy editor to address grammar, spelling, punctuation, and adherence to style guidelines, both overall and for the specifics of the geologic area. The copy editor's corrections are returned to the science editor for confirmation that the copy edits are correct according to geologic context. Finally, once copy edits are approved, content is passed on for typesetting. The typesetter then sends the typeset content to the science editor for review and approval. Ultimately, the typeset product is assembled into a proper book. Content will include text, photos, and graphics, including tables and charts.

The process is iterative with revisions at each stage between copy editing and typesetting before finalization. Collaboration with a virtual team based in US time zones is required throughout this timeline.

The final product is sent to a printer to print the final guidebook.